Kristina fran Duvemala- Guldet Blev Till Sand sung by Shad Olsen

Shad Olsen singing Guldet Blev Till Sand from Kristina fran Duvemala. My sister, Jaime Halvorson on piano. My ancestors made the same journey (from Sweden to Minnesota) as the emigrants in Kristina. My great grandmother, Anna Berglund came from Skelleftia through New York to Duluth, Minnesota where she met my great grandfather, also a Swedish immigrant. She came with her brother, leaving another brother behind in Skelleftia. Recently, my family met our cousins, descended from the brother that did not emigrate from Sweden. They gave us the book, The Emigrants. We all read it and appreciated it as the story of how our family came to be Americans. After I moved to New York to be an actor, I found out that The Emigrants had become a musical. And after falling in love with the show, I found out that it's going to be in concert at Carnegie Hall in September, 2009! So here is my sorry attempt at the Swedish language in a beautiful song that I hope to sing on stage in English someday in the near future!

The following is the translation that I used, though I suspect it's more poetic than literal:

Han kom med mej när jag drog bort den våren
(Dreams of gold made me run away that springtide)
som en hund följde han mej tätt i spåren
(And like a hound he was always there by my side)
Jag var glad åt hans sällskap, när jag sökte Guldets Land
(Oh,I was glad for his company, as our dreams of gold grew grand)
Men Kristina, guldet blev till sand
(But Kristina, gold can turn to sand)




Vi slet ont, ja, allt gott fick vi försaka
(We set off, yes, we missed what we'd forsaken)
Ofta grät han och bad: Ta mej tillbaka!
(Once he begged and he cried: please take me back man!)
Men jag vägrade alltid fast jag tvekade ibland
(I never gave in to him, although I felt the same way, and.)
Åh Kristina, guldet blev till sand
(Oh Kristina, gold can turn to sand)




Han, som var min kamrat, han trodde mitt ord, fast jag redan då,
(He, who was my best friend, he trusted my word, but I didn't though,)
Såg, att längs denna väg fanns knappast det jag ville nå
(See, I already knew, my childish dreams, I'd never know)




Över prärien kom vi till en öken
(Over prairies we came into a desert)
Vi gick vilse och började se spöken
(We got lost and saw mirages, our eyes hurt)
Man gör vatten som porlar,
(We heard water that rippled,)
När ens huvud står i brand
(Thirsting like a flaming brand)
Åh Kristina, guldet blev till sand
(Oh Kristina, gold can turn to sand)




Jag, som var hans kamrat, jag tog honom över land och hav
(I, who was his best friend, I took him all over land and wave)
Ökenvinden har höljt, ett täcke över hans tysta grav
(Desert sands have now spread, a blanket over his lonely grave)




Ur en stinkande källa drack han vatten
(From a well that was poisoned he drank water)
Han blev sjuk och gick bort från mej den natten
(He got sick and he died that night - it was over.)
När hans blick hade slocknat
(The spark faded from his eyes)
Då gled klockan ut hans hand
(As the watch slipped from his hand)
Och Kristina, guldet blev till sand
(And Kristina, the gold turned into sand)
Åh Kristina, guldet blev till sand
(Oh Kristina, the gold turned into sand)

Category:

Music

Tags:

• kristina
• från
• duvemåla
• Guldet
• Blev
• Till
• Sand
• Swedish
• Musical

[kimpe2]

Wow Shad! This is fantastic and you do not even speak Swedish, but on the other hand, that is why it is so great:)

I am Swedish and I have shown this to many of my friends and they all agree. Good luck in the future!

(Yes, Peter Jöback is a brilliant artist)

[ShadOlsen]

Thank you very much!! I had the honor of meeting Peter Jöback outside Carnegie Hall. He was at the dress rehearsal for the Kristina concerts and I recognized him walking by on the street. I even got him to sign my copy of The Last Letter Home, the final book of The Emigrants. Awesome experience!!

[Stmated]

Your Swedish is surprisingly good. Very nice job :)

Although there are the sounds that are commonly difficult for foreigners that you have some trouble with, like the word "gick" -- but those words are all evil, just like the word "kök" or "hjort".

Interestingly enough, the way that you sound sometimes is pretty similar to how someone who is deaf pronounces a lot of words, if they have gone through most-part of their life hearing.

But this was not often. Again: very nice.

[ShadOlsen]

Wow! Thanks so much for this great comment! I was hoping for some critique of my Swedish! My mom grew up hearing her grandparents speak it, but my exposure to the language was very limited. I had to learn Guldet Blev Til Sand and Ut Mot Ett Hav from listening to (the brilliant!) Peter Jobak on the original cast recording. I'm so excited to hear the English translation at Carnegie Hall in September... although I REEEALLY wish I were performing it!!! Thanks again for writing!

[Soscla]

I'm so impressed by your pronounciation of the R:s! They are perfect!! I've had english friends and tried to make them say it, but they were cowards :P But your Rs are excellent! And even though how you say "gick" maybe isn't "correct", I totally love it! It sounds French xD

[henrikanda]

brilliant! i`m singing that song at the moment too. It was a great transelation of the song and your voice was abseloutely stunning!

[Greenapplehill]

This is great! :D

[detari4]

fantastiskt

[KodeIFp94]

Thought you were danish at first judging by your name, thought your swedish was very good for being a dane.

When I realized you were from america, I was stunned!

You are doing some understandable small errors but keep it going and the stage will be yours one day!

This was over a year ago, don't know how far u have come but thinking you should meet some swede for a little pronunication help.

But again, this was stunning!

[FurryFenNick]

This was really amazing. Very unique. I believe your foreign accent gave another dimension of awesome, to this song.

[stematt100]

You have a wonderful no an extra ordinary voice! Youre swedish is better than many swedish people. And you are a very handsome man aswell. Thanks for giving us this lovely version of a swedish classic!!!!!

[crafyer]

very good job pal! It's not everyday you hear an American try to sing in Swedish (Swedish is a reaaaally hard language for non speakers) also really cool to read about your ancestors and that you actually met with distant relatives, i know i have long distant relatives in Canada, dont know about the U.S.

[arsletirott]

I'm very impressed and this really makes me proud. thanks for this shad. keep on doing your thing. surprisingly good pronounciations too!

[lallare2]

Not bad at all....Keep up the good work :)